The present invention relates generally to the conveyance of soiled ware such as dishes, utensils, glasses and the like in restaurants, cafeterias and similar commercial establishments, and more particularly, to an improved tray accumulator for a soiled ware conveyor.
A common practice of restaurants in handling soiled ware is to place the ware on trays which are in turn placed on endless conveyor belts to carry the trays of soiled ware to an area where the ware is washed in a commercial dishwasher. Frequently, food remnants on the soiled ware fall or drain onto the conveyor belt and lead to a disagreeable odor unless the conveyor belt is frequently cleansed.
As an improvement over the use of conveyor belts to convey soiled ware, a motor driven tray accumulator system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,274,886. In the disclosed system, a plurality of tray accumulators or dollies including tray receiving racks are interconnected by pivoting links such that a train of dollies are continuously moved along an oval track. Rails of the track are made from tubular material which is collapsed along its inner edge to form a groove. The track is then formed by two rails positioned such that the rail grooves face each other throughout the oval track circuit.
Support wheels mounted on vertical axes are secured to the dollies and engage the grooves. Two wheels ride in each rail. One of the rails includes a pair of spaced recesses cut into its upper edge with the distance between the recesses being the same as the distance between the two wheels of the dollies that are to be received in the rail. An operator can mount a dolly on the track by first placing two of the wheels into one of the grooved rails and then aligning the other two wheels above the recesses in the other rail and lowering that end of the dolly such that the wheels pass through the recesses and onto the rail. The dolly is then free to move along the track.
Since the formation of the recesses into a rail requires additional processing and tends to weaken the rail, the recesses are typically formed only at a single location along the track and hence the dollies can be mounted to or removed from the track only at that location. To cleanse the accumulator system, the dollies can be periodically wiped clean. However, occasionally, the dollies are removed from the rails at the location including the recesses in one of the rails and then moved to a commercial dishwasher or otherwise thoroughly cleaned.
Removal of the dollies for cleansing is difficult since each dolly must be moved to the removal location and the dollies, which are preferably made from stainless steel, are quite heavy. In addition, removal of the dollies from the track requires the disassembly of the links from the dollies. It is thus apparent that the need exists for an improved tray accumulator for a soiled ware conveyor, which tray accumulator facilitates cleansing of the accumulator, and hence, promotes sanitation at the facility using the warewasher.